Page 98 of Little Miss Fortune

‘Well, you were at Oxford, so I had to settle for someone less desirable,’ I deflect, hoping that my humour is enough to satisfy him. It isn’t. He wants to know why. ‘For the longest time I wasn’t good with being alone. I needed to be around people. What was it that your mother said? Pathetic displays of attention due to lack of maternal care?’

‘Do not quote my mother. As if she is the gold standard of parenting.’

‘Well, she hit the nail on the head with that one. It wasn’t just John, there were other boys before him.’

Toby rounds his eyes and opens his mouth in pretend shock and earns himself a smack on the shoulder.

‘I told your sister when I saw her the first time that I would stand my ground against people who didn’t respect me. But in truth... I never did. I let boys get away with so many things and I just thought, That’s just your luck, Fuko. Pathetic, isn’t it?’

‘It isn’t. I guess I am sort of in the same boat. If someone looked mildly interested in me, I would go straight for them. Which is why it was such a big deal for me.’

‘What was?’

‘You.’ His voice is low, rumbling. ‘It was the first time I wanted someone.’

The half a metre separating us does not feel far enough for him to not hear the backflip and the poor landing my heart just had.

‘I thought it was fate bringing us together?’ I remind him of his own pickup line, which did work wonders on me back then.

‘Well, I’m really coming round to your luck theory.’

‘Yeah? How come?’

‘You said I have good luck. I do feel extremely lucky being here with you.’

My breath is frozen in my chest. My face stuck in a state of complete astonishment.

‘Do you want the truth or the answer that will earn me some points?’ I repeat the question.

‘Truth, always.’ He smiles, just as gentle and as sincere as the first time we spoke.

This is the Toby I know.

‘No one has ever said that to me.’ I smile, propping myself up to kiss his perfectly shaped lips.

With a moan of desire purring out of him, his arms scoop me up, pressing me close against his chest. Toby’s tongue parts my lips, asking permission, but I pull away.

‘Toby?’

There is a silent question—are you sure that’s what you want? My fingers run over his swollen lips, tracing his neck and collarbone. They are not toying with him, only checking that he is here, present in the moment. His head tilts to kiss my hand.

His fingers travel though mine, studying them like delicate petals of a flower. His thumb caresses my hand, circling a few freckles on my skin. He lets go, sitting us up, me on his thighs. Slow, burning kisses travel down my neck. He takes off my top and lets me unbutton his shirt, eyeing me in my bra. This time with hooks at the back.

‘I can’t stop looking at you.’ His hand brushes up my thigh, melting the worries of today away. ‘Or touching you. Do you know how often I have thought about you on the floor of my living room?’

My cheeks light up. I bite down on my lip out of embarrassment at how quickly hearing those words turned me on. An ache from below is rippling through me, preparing my body for him. Toby undoes my trousers, and I awkwardly stand back up, trying to undress.

I tug on his remaining clothes, but he doesn’t move, holding me still by my hips, his breaths burning between every kiss that turns into a gentle bite around my stomach. I let out a moan, hands ruffling though his hair.

He finally stands up, letting me take his pants off. He is completely hard, which makes me smile.

‘Someone is excited to see me,’ I say without thinking.

‘Oh, yeah?’ His fingers tease around. ‘I think that makes two of us.’

I laugh into his mouth, playing with the freckles on his shoulders and around his nose. ‘You have so many.’ I point to the biggest one under his eye. ‘This one is my favourite.’

I kiss it, then his cheek. He turns his head to steal the final kiss from me, hungrier than the kisses before. I push him down, about to get on top, when I stop myself.